Powers Swapped for Abel: Cold War's Most Famous Spy Exchange
The United States traded a downed U-2 pilot and his plane for Soviet intelligence chief Rudolf Abel, swapping a high-profile espionage capture for a seasoned spy mastermind. This exchange ended the immediate crisis but cemented a precedent where both superpowers would routinely swap captured agents rather than risk further escalation or public embarrassment.
February 10, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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Soviet Union
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Soviet
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Gary Powers
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Rudolf Abel
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Lockheed U-2
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World War II
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Dutch East Indies
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Imperial Japanese Army
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Cold War
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Soviet Union
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Estonia
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Red Army
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Lithuania
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Siege of Leningrad
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Axis powers
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Latvia
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Lockheed U-2
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Francis Gary Powers
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Rudolf Abel
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Battle of Krasny Bor
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Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union
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Siberia
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East Pomeranian offensive
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Borneo
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División Azul
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Operación Estrella Polar
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Grupo de Ejércitos Norte
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Territoire libre de Trieste
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Geschichte Italiens
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Glienicker Brücke
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Pariser Friedenskonferenz 1946
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Banjarmasin
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What Else Happened on February 10
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The Mongols destroyed Baghdad's libraries by throwing books into the Tigris. The river ran black with ink for six months. The House of Wisdom — 500 years of acc…
Robert the Bruce stabbed John Comyn in front of a church altar during peace negotiations. His companion asked if Comyn was dead. Bruce said he wasn't sure. The …
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